Pipelines

Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project
September 3, 2014September 3, 2014

What a difference five months can make in the midstream business. In April Dominion launched a nonbinding (“feeling out the marketplace”) open season to gauge potential interest in a pipeline that would carry Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from West Virginia into Virginia and eventually to North Carolina (see Dominion Announces 2 New Pipeline Projects from Marcellus/Utica). The project was called the Dominion Southeast Reliability Project. At the end of May, Dominion was still saying the proposed pipeline, which would cost around $2 billion to build, was still “very preliminary” and that the company had “not decided to do this” (see More Details/Proposed Route of Dominion Marcellus to NC Pipeline). We couldn’t even locate a map of the proposed route! Looks like the nonbinding open season was a big success. Yesterday Dominion announced not only is the pipeline going forward, they’ve formed a joint venture with three other companies to build it. We have a map of the route, a name change for the project (now called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline), and the price to build it has more than doubled–from $2 billion to $5 billion! Here’s the details…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

EQT & NextEra Tie the Knot on WV-VA Pipeline Joint Venture
September 3, 2014September 3, 2014

There’s a big difference between nonbinding and binding–as in open seasons. When a pipeline company wants to see if they can get any interest for building a pipeline (which involves millions of dollars of investment, sometimes billions) they start with a “nonbinding” open season. Think of it as an elaborate marketing exercise in lead generation. If the company gets good vibes from the nonbinding open season, they then move to a binding open season. It’s one thing to say “Yeah, we’ll use X capacity on that pipeline if you build it.” It’s a whole other thing to sign on the dotted line, committing to a binding contract for the next 10-20 years. It is a huge financial commitment. EQT and their joint venture partner NextEra Energy announced a new pipeline project in June. The 330-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project would run from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA (see EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US). EQT announced yesterday the previous nonbinding open season changed to binding, an important change…
Read More “EQT & NextEra Tie the Knot on WV-VA Pipeline Joint Venture”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pipelines | Williams

Cooperstown Refuses $20K Grant from Williams for Fire Equipment
September 2, 2014September 2, 2014

Back in March, MDN wrote an article highlighting the practice by Williams and their Constitution Pipeline of handing out grants to worthy causes and organizations, like fire departments, the Boy Scouts and local Chambers of Commerce. Anti-drillers typically call it payola, or greasing the skids to make those communities more accepting of the pipeline when it comes time to build it (see Constitution Pipeline Payments to Groups – Donations or Payola?). To be honest, we struggle with the issue ourselves. We think it’s great to make those payments–but we think it’s probably better to make the payments after the pipeline is fully approved and ready to be built (or already built). For us the issue is one of timing, not about the payments themselves. However, for the dunderheads in the Village of Cooperstown, NY (yes, where the Baseball Hall of Fame is located), officials there refuse to allow the local fire department to apply for a $20,000 matching grant with Williams to purchase new equipment–simply because they’re so opposed to anything to do with natural gas and fossil fuels…
Read More “Cooperstown Refuses $20K Grant from Williams for Fire Equipment”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

PA Gov Corbett Makes Political U-Turn on Pipeline Project
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Last week Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett waded into the thorny issue of whether or not the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should approve the Williams Tranco pipeline expansion project. Dubbed the Atlantic Sunrise project, the $3 billion project which reaches far beyond just PA, would carry PA Marcellus Shale gas to the East Coast and to southern states (see Williams Open House Sheds more Light on Transco Atlantic Sunrise). Last week Corbett sent a letter to FERC asking the feds to look carefully at the Atlantic Sunrise expansion project because he’s hearing a lot of noise from voters about it. He also requested FERC to zoom out and look at the big picture–consider all of the proposed pipeline projects for PA and whether as a whole it makes sense–and not just look at each project individually…
Read More “PA Gov Corbett Makes Political U-Turn on Pipeline Project”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Williams to Expand Transco Pipeline Again, More Marcellus to NE
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

There’s no doubt that Williams is a major midstream player in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Williams is in the process of growing–massively–by purchasing Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Williams is also the owner of the Transcontinental (or Transco) pipeline, a 10,200-mile pipeline system, extending from South Texas to New York City. Williams wants to further expand the Transco with it’s Atlantic Sunrise project to bring Marcellus gas to the northeast and southern states (see Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already). Yesterday Williams announced an open season (period of time when new customers can sign up) for yet a another expansion of the Transco, this time to bring more Marcellus Shale gas to places like New Jersey and New York City. This newest expansion is being called the Diamond East Project and Williams expects to pony up $500-$800 million to make it happen by 2018…
Read More “Williams to Expand Transco Pipeline Again, More Marcellus to NE”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Wastewater | West Virginia

Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Now that U.S. Coast Guard’s comment period for barging frack wastewater is officially closed and a positive decision to move forward is likely, we expect to see more movement from GreenHunter Water on building out their barge facility near Wheeling, WV. As part of GreenHunter’s master plan, the company announced at the end of June that they will build three new (short) pipelines, one each dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area). The three pipelines will all terminate in the same location–but until now, GreenHunter has been cagey about where (see GreenHunter’s Unidentified Barge Facility Pipeline Destination). We said at the time the betting money is on GreenHunter’s facility in Wheeling. Were we right?…
Read More “Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…”
CONE Midstream | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Rather than contract with MarkWest Energy, Williams, or another midstream company, CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy, who together have a joint venture to drill in certain areas of the Marcellus Shale (or “upstream” venture), have now decided to form their own “midstream” (or pipeline) company too. Dubbed CONE Midstream–perhaps some weird amalgamation of the CONSOL and Noble Energy names–the new midstream company will take the form of a master limited partnership, or MLP. So far CONSOL and Noble have only filed paperwork and announced who will sell units (rough equivalent of shares of stock). While the announcement from CONSOL doesn’t say who will operate the new midstream company, it sure looks to us like CONSOL will be the one calling the shots…
Read More “CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Final EIS for Constitution Pipeline Delayed Another 2 Months, Ugh
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The Constitution Pipeline, which MDN has covered for more than two years, is a $683 million Williams pipeline project with backing from Cabot Oil & Gas that will run from Cabot’s gas fields in Susquehanna County, PA all the way to Schoharie County, NY. It’s an important project for Cabot Oil & Gas since it will move an additional half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for the company. A month ago MDN told you the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was due “any day” (see Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day). The EIS was already delayed, and now we learn that it’s delayed yet again. According to top energy blogger and analyst Richard Zeits, the EIS for the Constitution is now delayed until the end of October–another two months…
Read More “Final EIS for Constitution Pipeline Delayed Another 2 Months, Ugh”
Belmont County | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Guernsey County | Industrywide Issues | Noble County | Ohio | Pipelines | Washington County (OH)

EnLink Midstream Announces New Condensate Pipeline in ORV
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Earlier this year, midstream company Crosstex Energy merged with the midstream division of shale driller Devon Energy and gave birth to a new company–EnLink Midstream (see Time to Congratulate Devon & Crosstex on the Birth of EnLink). EnLink has a small but growing presence in the northeast, including the Utica Shale. EnLink’s commitment to the Ohio River Valley (Utica Shale) has just doubled by adding another $250 million committed to a project that will build a new 45-mile condensate pipeline and add compressor stations in Noble, Belmont, and Guernsey counties…
Read More “EnLink Midstream Announces New Condensate Pipeline in ORV”
Bucks County | Carbon County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Northampton County | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | UGI Energy Services

3rd New NEPA Marcellus Pipeline Proposed, Connects to Trenton, NJ
August 13, 2014September 5, 2014

A third new pipeline has been proposed–seriously proposed and already in the planning stages–to carry Marcellus Shale gas from northeastern Pennsylvania all the way to New Jersey. Yesterday a consortium of four companies, including energy utility giant UGI, along with AGL Resources, NJR Pipeline Company (subsidiary of New Jersey Resources) and South Jersey Industries announced the PennEast Pipeline, a 105-mile long, 30” diameter interstate natural gas pipeline. The new pipeline will cost $1 billion to build (providing 2,000+ jobs for seven months) and when finished, carry 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Here’s the full details for the new project…
Read More “3rd New NEPA Marcellus Pipeline Proposed, Connects to Trenton, NJ”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf
August 13, 2014August 13, 2014

Columbia Pipeline Group, a division of NiSource, announced yesterday they have decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects. The first is a pipeline project that will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. Hence, the new project is called the Leach Xpress. Yes, the marketers at Columbia could of/should of come up with a better name than “leach” for a pipeline, but we’ll just have to live with it (as we sigh and shake our heads). The 160-mile pipeline will pump abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to various sales points along the pipeline (interconnecting with other pipelines). But perhaps most importantly, it will pump gas to Leach, and that’s the second major project. There is an existing pipeline from Leach all the way to the Louisiana Gulf Coast. That pipeline is called the Rayne, for Rayne, LA. The Rayne Xpress project will beef up the pipeline with new compressor stations to add an additional 1 billion cubic feet per day of capacity–Marcellus and Utica Shale gas capacity that will flow to the Gulf Coast…
Read More “Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf”
Columbia County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Lycoming County | Monroe County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

FERC Says “No Significant Impact” from Leidy Southeast Pipeline
August 13, 2014August 13, 2014

Williams is one very important step closer to beginning construction–this fall–on their Transco Leidy Southeast Expansion project. Last fall Williams filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to proceed with the project, a $610 million project designed to increase the Transco pipeline’s capacity by 525,000 decatherms per day–enough natural gas to serve 2 million homes (see Williams Takes Next Step with Transco Leidy Pipeline Expansion). The expansion will pipe cheap, abundant NEPA Marcellus Shale gas to points from New York City to the southeastern U.S. The project includes construction of approximately 30 miles of additional pipe segments, called loops, in PA and NJ, in addition to modifying some existing compressor stations and valve sites. Earlier this week FERC reported the proposed changes would have “no significant impact” on the environment. What does that mean?…
Read More “FERC Says “No Significant Impact” from Leidy Southeast Pipeline”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Spectra Energy

List of LNG Export Projects for Marcellus/Utica Shale Gas
August 12, 2014September 14, 2015

Would it surprise you to learn that there are now six potential liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects on the books or under serious consideration for the East Coast that aim to use at least some Marcellus Shale gas for export? Would it astound you (as it did us) that five of the six are Canadian and not U.S. projects? And would it further astound you (although it did not surprise us) that the reason five of the six are in Canada is because of the extreme regulatory delays in getting such projects authorized in the U.S. intentionally thrown up by the Obama administration? Below is a list of all six East Coast LNG export projects that are being talked about, plus Gulf Coast and other LNG plants we’re aware of that will be fed, in part, with Marcellus Shale gas…
Read More “List of LNG Export Projects for Marcellus/Utica Shale Gas”
Access Midstream Partners | Cardinal Gas Services | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Total | Utica Shale

Cardinal Gas Courts S Koreans to Invest in Utica JV
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Cardinal Gas Services is a midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) concentrating on the Ohio Utica Shale. Cardinal is actually a joint venture between Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream, now being bought by Williams), the U.S. subsidiary of French driller Total, and EnerVest Energy Partners. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated, it does. Reuters is reporting the rumor that a new consortium including South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and South Korean gas seller E1 Corp are making a play for 34% of Cardinal…
Read More “Cardinal Gas Courts S Koreans to Invest in Utica JV”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Randolph County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Hula Hoops & Tall Tales from WV Anti-Drillers Opposed to Pipeline
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

We never tire of reading about (and witnessing) stupid antics and statements from anti-drillers. Frankly, it amuses us. It doubly amuses us when we point it out and make fun of them in their own absurd behaviors and statements. The latest instance are those opposing new pipelines in West Virginia. At a meeting last Thursday’s Randolph County, WV Commission meeting, one anti-driller used a hula hoop, and another made the wild claim that methane causes cancer. All in a day’s work for the anti-drilling ignorant…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Supply Chain | Transco | Williams

Lancaster, PA Business Adds Pipeline Manufacturing Facility
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Don’t tell the anti-drillers in Lancaster, PA (and nearby Lebanon, PA), but the prospect of a new pipeline coming through that area, along with increased drilling in the Marcellus, is helping to drive the expansion of a Lancaster business. Goodhart Sons Inc., an industrial fabricator in Lancaster announced last week the development of a new pipe fabrication facility at their Lancaster, PA headquarters. Anti-drillers have opposed the pipeline proposed by Williams called the Atlantic Sunrise Project (see Williams to Lay Pipeline in “Pristine” Lancaster County, PA). Now, the hated pipeline will help to drive economic expansion and new jobs at the 79 year-old Goodhart Sons manufacturing operation in Lancaster. Anti-drillers are on the horns of a dilemma!…
Read More “Lancaster, PA Business Adds Pipeline Manufacturing Facility”